Michael Siminovitch, UC Davis professor of design and director of UC Davis’s California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), has been selected by UC President Janet Napolitano to serve on the newly formed University of California Global Climate Leadership Council, which includes UC officials, students and outside experts. President Napolitano formed the council to guide UC efforts aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2025.

Napolitano convened the first council meeting on June 9 to outline her vision for UC’s future sustainability work and the roles the council will play in disseminating best practices and improving energy efficiency on UC campuses. He is the UC Davis Rosenfeld Chair in Energy Efficiency and associate director of the Energy Efficiency Center at UC Davis. Siminovitch and undergraduate student Elaine Swiedler will represent UC Davis on the council.

Siminovitch co-founded CLTC in 2003 to accelerate the development and commercialization of energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies. CLTC is part of the Department of Design within the university’s College of Letters and Science. Under Siminovitch’s direction, CLTC has worked in partnership with lighting manufacturers, utilities and state regulators to reduce lighting energy use in both the commercial and residential sectors. In 2010 Siminovitch spearheaded UC Davis’s Smart Lighting Initiative, an effort designed to reduce campus-wide lighting energy use at least 60% below 2007 levels. He also helped develop the lighting chapter of California’s Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, and he continues to contribute to sustainability initiatives on state, national and international levels.